Improved lubricator for steam-engines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

O. H. DUNHAM, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

NIPROVED LUBRICATOR FOR STEAM-ENGiNES.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patcnt No. 37,036, lated DCCGlUlJGX 2, 1352- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OcTAvrUs H. DUNHAM, of the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a certain new and Improved Oil-Cup for Lubricating the Pistons of Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a top view of the said oil-cup. Fig. 2 is an axial section of the same, showing the reservoir open above to receive oil. Fig. 3 is an axial section showing the reservoir closed above and open below to supply the oil to the interior of the Asteam-cylinder.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

My invention relates to that class of oil-cups in which two connected disk-valves are operated simultaneously to close the ports below the internal reservoir, while those above the said reservoir are opened, and vice versa; and the invention particularly consists in the combination, with the said valves, of tubes arranged, as hereinafter described, to afford independent and unobstructed passages for the oil and steam.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand and use my invention, l will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the open basin at top7 in which the oil is first placed. The bottom of the said basin has two apertures` c a, on opposite sides, from the latter of which apertures atube, c2, rises to about the height of the sides of the basin.

B is a disk-valve seated beneath the bottom of the basin A, and perforated to correspond with the apertures a and a.

C is a stem secured to the center of the valve B, and rising` through the basin A to a short distance above the top, where it is furnished with a lever, D, for the purpose of rotating the said valve.

E is the internal reservoir, the bottom of which has also two apertures, c c', at opposite sides, from the latter of which apertures a tube, e2, rises nearly to the top of the reservoir.

F is a disk-valve seated beneath the bottom of the reservoir, and having perforationsff at opposite sides corresponding with the apertures e e.

Gr is a stem secured to the center of the valve F, and extending upward through the reservoir and centered at top in the valve B.

b2 b2 are ilanges projecting from the bottom of the valve B on each side of a flattened part of the stem G, for the purpose of communieating the rotation of the upper to the lower valve. I

H is the neck by which the apparatus is secured to the steam-cylinder.

fl is a tube extending downward from the aperturef, for the purpose of conducting oil through the neck without beinginterfered with by the steam which rises into the reservoir.

D is the lever by which the valvestem G is operated. The said lever may be retained in either position by notches d d or by any other suitable means.

J is a strong spiral spring, resting on the bottom of the reservoir and bearing upward against a pin,j, upon the stem G, so as to draw the lower valve, F, against its seat.

J is a somewhat weaker spiral spring, resting upon the pinj and bearing upward against the bottom of the valve B, so asto press the latter against its seat.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The receiving-basin A being filled with oil, and the parts being placed in the position shown in Figs. l and 2, the oil will flow down through the aperture c into the reservoir E, the air or steam in the latter escaping through the tube a2 without interfering with the de'- scending oil. Vhen the reservoir has become full, and it is desired to introduce the oil into the cylinder, the lever I is moved to the position shown in red in Fig. l, which closes the apertures c a above the reservoir and opens the aperetures @fand e f below it. The steam will now rush up through the neck H on the outside of the tubef, and through the passage f e e2 into the reservoir, instantly pro` ducing a pressure in the reservoir equal to that in the cylinder. The oil will then flow by its gravity down through the aperture ef and tube f2 into the cylinder until the reservoir is depleted, steam passing upward, as before explained, to take the place of the oil. On the lever being again restored to its former position, the lower valve is closed and the upper one opened, and the steam within the reservoir will then escape throughV the tube a2, While the reservoir is again supplied With oil from the basin A.

The upper ends ofthe tubes a2 and el, being always above the surface of the oil in the respective compartments, preserve constantly a free upward passage for the steam unobstructed by oil. By yelongating the aperture f the pressure of the steam may be admitted to the reservoir E slightly before the passage e f is opened for the iiow of oil, and in like manner the aperture b may be elongated, so that the steam within the reservoir will be allowed t0 escape before the passage a b is opened.

O. H. DUNHAM.

Vitn esses OoTAVIUs KNIGHT, GHARLEs SMITH. 

